Systems and methods for interleaving navigational directions with additional audio in a mobile device

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for managing audio conflicts and priorities is disclosed. A mobile device ( 110 ) initiates a navigation application ( 410 ) and an audio application ( 415 ), each configured to utilize audio input and/or output components. The mobile device identifies ( 430, 435 ) a priority of a communication associated with the audio application and manages ( 440, 445 ) the audio input and output components based on the priority and other factors. In particular, the mobile device or components thereof can delay ( 440 ) an indication of the communication until a sufficient break in a route traversal is reached, can mute ( 445 ) the audio input component while the navigation application utilizes the audio output component, and/or can perform other functions related to the audio conflicts and priorities of the applications.

FIELD

This application generally relates to audio delivery, and moreparticularly to platforms and techniques for managing audio conflictsand/or priorities for multiple applications in a mobile device.

BACKGROUND

Current mobile devices incorporate various applications capable of usingaudio components associated with the mobile devices and relatedcomponents. For example, applications that facilitate or support voicecalls, voice over IP (VoIP) calls, text-to-voice messages, push-to-talk(PTT) technology, PTT over cellular (POC) technology, and other audioapplications, can use speaker and microphone components associated withthe mobile devices.

There are shortcomings, however, in current techniques for managingaudio conflicts and priorities among the applications of a mobiledevice. For example, in some cases, if a navigation application isexecuting on the mobile device of a user operating a vehicle, and anincoming call is received, then the mobile device may terminate thenavigation application to receive the incoming call. After the incomingcall terminates, the user must restart the navigation application andre-enter the destination. As a further example, in another case, if anavigation application is executing on the mobile device, and anincoming call is answered by a vehicle operator, then a party on theother end of the call can hear directions that are audibly output by thenavigation application. A security concern can result, as the vehicleoperator may not want the other party to know to that the vehicleoperator is traveling.

Accordingly, there is an opportunity for more effective techniques formanaging audio conflicts and/or priorities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer toidentical or functionally similar elements throughout the separateviews, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated inand form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrateembodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explainvarious principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary environment in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a more-detailed block diagram of a communication device inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary data record in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a management of audio applications inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a supplemental flow diagram depicting a management of audioapplications in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and apparatus for a communication device in a communicationsystem provides effective and efficient audio conflict or prioritymanagement. The communication device can support an initialization of anavigation application and an audio application. The navigationapplication can be configured to audibly output directions andinstructions via a speaker of the communication device and/or otheraudio components in the communication system, and the audio applicationcan be configured to receive audio input via a microphone component andoutput audio via the speaker of the communication device and/or theother audio components.

The method and apparatus manages audio conflicts or prioritiesassociated with the navigation application and the audio applicationusing the audio components of the communication device and/orcommunication system. More particularly, the method and apparatusdetects an initiation of the audio application (e.g., an incoming call)when the navigation application is executing on the communicationdevice. In some cases, the method and apparatus determines whether theinitiation of the audio application has an associated high or lowpriority. Based on the priority of the initiation of the audioapplication, the method and apparatus manages audio input and outputassociated with the operation of the navigation application and theaudio application. More particularly, the method and apparatus can mutea microphone of the communication device when the navigation applicationoutputs directions, can disable any navigation warnings from beingoutput, and/or can perform other functions.

The method and apparatus as discussed herein can offer many improvementsto existing audio content managing techniques. For example, thenavigation application can remain executing when the audio applicationis initialized, thereby obviating the need for a user of the device torestart and reconfigure the navigation application upon termination ofthe audio application. Further, directions that are audibly output bythe navigation application will not be transmitted to an additionalparty of the audio application, thereby alleviating security concernsassociated with the additional party obtaining sensitive information.Still further, the method and apparatus can reduce the number of audioinstructions or warnings associated with the execution of the navigationapplication, thereby reducing the number of interruptions of the audioapplication.

As used herein, a “navigation application” can be understood to be anytype of application, program, set of executable instructions, and/or thelike that can be configured to audibly output directions, indications,instructions, warnings, and other audio cues associated with anavigation or traversal of a route, circuit, course, path, and/or thelike. Further, as used herein, an “audio application” can be understoodto be any type of application, program, set of executable instructions,and/or the like that can be configured to output audio content and/orreceive audio input. For example, the audio application can be a phoneapplication, voice over IP (VoIP) application, text-to-speech messagingapplication, push-to-talk (PTT) application, PTT over cellular (POC)application, and/or other similar audio applications. Further, it shouldbe understood that the input and output of audio can occur via anycomponents capable of interfacing with or connecting to the navigationand audio applications such as, for example, microphones and speakers ofmobile devices or vehicles in which the mobile devices are located,Bluetooth® headsets, or similar external peripheral devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary environment 100. Itshould be appreciated that each of the components of the environment 100can have one or multiple entities. The environment 100 includes avehicle 105 with a mobile device 110 operating therein. For example, anoperator or passenger of the vehicle 105 can utilize the mobile device110 and applications thereof during operation of the vehicle 105. Themobile device 110 can have a set of applications configured to utilizeaudio components of the mobile device 110 and/or the vehicle 105. Forexample, an operator or passenger of the vehicle 105 can use anavigation application to calculate or determine a route to adestination, and the navigation application can audibly outputturn-by-turn directions to the destination via a speaker of the mobiledevice 110. For further example, the mobile device 110 can be configuredwith an audio application, such as a phone application, that is capableof receiving and transmitting audio, and outputting audio. In somecases, the navigation application and the audio application can outputor receive audio via a speaker(s) or microphone(s) of the vehicle 105,via a pairing with a Bluetooth® peripheral device, and/or via othercomponents. It should be appreciated that the mobile device 110 can beconfigured with other various audio applications such as, for example,voice over IP (VoIP) applications, text-to-speech messagingapplications, push-to-talk (PTT) applications, PTT over cellular (POC)applications, and/or other similar audio applications.

As shown in FIG. 1, the environment 100 can have multiple networksconfigured to communicate with the components of the mobile device 110and/or the vehicle 105. In particular, the environment 100 can include asatellite 120 and a base station 115. The satellite 120 can be a globalpositioning system (GPS) satellite that can be configured to provide GPSinformation to the mobile device 110 and/or the navigation application.In particular, the mobile device 110 can be configured with a GPSreceiver chip that can calculate GPS coordinates to locate the mobiledevice 110, calculate directions to a destination, and perform otherfunctionalities. The base station 115 can facilitate any type ofwireless data communication via any standard or technology (e.g., GSM,CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA, EDGE, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, WiMAX, WiFi, Bluetooth, UWB,and others). For example, a user of the mobile device 110 can place orreceive calls via wireless communication with the base station 115.

According to methods and apparatuses as discussed herein, the mobiledevice 110 can be configured to resolve audio conflicts or prioritiesamong (and/or alleviate security concerns with) audio applications andnavigation applications. For example, a navigation application canfrequently interrupt a call-in-progress on a phone application withwarnings associated with turn-by-turn directions. For further example, asecurity concern exists when a party to a phone call can hear directionsoutput by the navigation application. It should be appreciated thatthere are further benefits envisioned.

In some implementations, a user of the mobile device 110 can input a setof rules or priorities for resolving audio conflicts or managing audiopriorities. For example, the user can specify a set of contacts thatshould receive a high priority (e.g., a spouse, a family member, etc.),another set of contacts that should receive a low priority (e.g., anunknown number, an individual not in a contact list), and other priorityconventions. The set of rules or priorities can be added, removed,and/or updated by the user and/or dynamically. For example, the mobiledevice 110 can access a calendar application to determine if there areany contacts associated with an appointment that need to be temporalityplaced on a high-priority list. In some cases, the audio application candetermine, via the navigation application, that the user is en route toa location of the appointment, and can update the high- and/orlow-priority lists appropriately.

According to implementations, the mobile device 110 and componentsthereof can be configured to resolve audio conflicts and/or alleviatesecurity concerns when an audio application initiates while a navigationapplication is executing, or vice-versa. In some cases, if thenavigation application is providing turn-by-turn directions to anoperator of the vehicle 105, and the audio application initiates, thenthe navigation application can be configured to determine a subsequentdirection of the turn-by-turn directions and audibly output a statusassociated with the subsequent direction. For example, if the subsequentdirection is a right turn in five (5) miles, then the navigationapplication, upon the audio application initiating, can inform theoperator that there is a right turn in 5 miles.

The mobile device 110 can be further be configured to mute anynavigation warnings associated with the turn-by-turn directions, orotherwise prevent any navigation warnings to be output. The navigationwarnings can be in contrast to navigation instructions. For example, thenavigation warnings can be any indications of upcoming directions (e.g.,“in 2 blocks, turn right”), and the navigation instructions can beexplicit instructions associated with a route to a destination (e.g.,“turn right here”). In some cases, the audio application can control thespeaker of the mobile device 110 and prevent the navigation applicationfrom outputting the navigation warnings via the speaker. For example,the audio application can gain exclusive access to the speaker such thatthe navigation warnings will not be output via the speaker. In othercases, the navigation application can determine that the audioapplication is initiated and can neither generate nor output thenavigation warnings. More particularly, the navigation application canreceive a “flag” or other type of indication that indicates that theaudio application is active and, in response to receiving the flag, canrefrain from generating and/or outputting the navigation warnings.

In cases in which a phone application initiates during execution of thenavigation application, the mobile device 110 can determine if anincoming call is being received or if a user of the mobile device 110 isplacing an outgoing call. If an incoming call is being received, themobile device 110 can examine the set of rules or priorities todetermine if the call is a high-priority call or low-priority call. Moreparticularly, the mobile device 110 can identify the caller of theincoming call and compare the caller to the set of rules or priorities.For example, if the mobile device 110 user's spouse is the caller, andthe user's spouse is on a high-priority list, then the mobile device 110can assign a high priority to the incoming call. In another example, ifthe incoming call is from an unknown number, and the set of rules orpriorities indicates that any unknown number should be low priority,then the mobile device 110 can assign a low priority to the incomingcall.

The mobile device 110 can be configured to manage the audio outputs andfunctions of the navigation and audio applications based on the priorityof the incoming call. In some cases, if the incoming call is assigned alow priority, the mobile device 110 can be configured to delay an alertassociated with the incoming call or place the incoming call on atemporary hold until a sufficient break in the turn-by-turn directionsof the navigation application. In particular, the navigation applicationcan estimate or approximate an amount a time before a subsequentdirection will be output by the navigation application and compare theamount of time to a threshold value that is settable by the user orother entities. If the amount of time is less than the threshold value,the audio application can place the call on a temporary hold until theamount of time meets or exceeds the threshold value. Further, in somecases, the audio application can route the incoming call to a voicemailbox module or similar answering component if the amount of time isless than the threshold value. If the amount of time meets or exceedsthe threshold value, the audio application can provide an indication ofthe incoming call to the user. For example, the mobile device 110 canring, vibrate, and/or perform other alert functionalities. The user canthen select whether to answer or ignore the call.

In some cases, the mobile device 110 can provide, to the user, anindication of the estimated or approximated amount of time of a break toallow the user the option to accept or decline an incoming call, or toprovide a user wishing to place an outgoing call with information. Forexample, if the mobile device 110 receives an incoming call anddetermines that the subsequent direction is a right turn in one mile,then the mobile device 110 can indicate, to the user, that thesubsequent direction is a right turn in one mile and can allow the userto accept or decline the incoming call. Further, for example, if theuser wishes to place an outgoing call and the mobile device 110determines that the subsequent direction is a left turn in two miles,then the mobile device 110 can indicate, to the user, that thesubsequent direction is a left turn in two miles and that the call maybe interrupted with navigation directions in an approximate amount oftime, and can prompt the user to select whether he/she still wishes toplace the outgoing call. It should be appreciated that various alertdelaying functionalities, threshold value determinations, and alertindications are envisioned. Further, it should be appreciated that thepriority handling functionality as discussed herein can be applied toaudio applications other than phone applications. For example, themobile device 110 can similarly delay an alert associated with atext-to-voice SMS until a sufficient break in the navigationapplication.

The mobile device 110 can be further configured to manage the audioinput and output of the associated components when the audio applicationconnects or otherwise initiates audio input and output. For example, theaudio application can connect when the user places an outgoing call, ifan incoming call is from a high-priority contact, or when an incomingcall is from a low-priority contact but if a sufficient break existsbefore a subsequent direction. In managing the audio input and output,the mobile device 110 can be configured to mute the microphone of themobile device 110, the vehicle 105, and/or any peripheral devices whenthe navigation application needs to output a direction. Moreparticularly, either the audio application or the navigation applicationcan be configured to mute the microphone and/or other input componentswhen the navigation application outputs a navigation direction (e.g.,“turn left here”), thereby preventing a party on the other end of theaudio application from hearing the navigation direction output. Further,the mobile device 110 can terminate the audio conflict managementfunctionality upon the audio application exiting, the navigationapplication exiting, and/or other triggers.

Referring to FIG. 2, depicted is an exemplary mobile device 200 andcomponents thereof. It should be appreciated that FIG. 2 represents ageneralized schematic illustration and that other components and/orentities can be added or existing components and/or entities can beremoved or modified.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile device 200 can include a set of ports(logical ports or physical ports) that can receive input signals or datafrom, or output signals or data to, other components of a datatransmission environment, such as the cellular towers 115, the GPSsatellites 120, and others, as discussed herein. More particularly, acellular input port 208 can be configured to receive cellular datarelated to a cellular telephone call. Further, a cellular output port209 can be configured to output cellular telephone call data. Stillfurther, a GPS input port 206 can be configured to receive GPS locationdata via, for example, GPS satellites.

The mobile device 200 can further include a microphone port 202 that canbe configured to receive audio and a speaker port 204 that can beconfigured to output audio. It should be appreciated that the microphoneport 202 can be a hardware jack socket (e.g., a 3.5 mm TRS connector)that can be electrically coupled to a microphone transducer, anintegrated hardware component that can convert sound into an electricalsignal (e.g., an integrated microphone), or a logical port created usinga Bluetooth receiver that can be wirelessly coupled to a Bluetoothmicrophone (e.g., in a Bluetooth headset). Further, it should beappreciated that the speaker port 204 can be a hardware jack socket(e.g., a 3.5 mm TRS connector) that can be electrically coupled to aloudspeaker transducer, an integrated hardware component that canproduce sound in response to an electrical audio signal input, or alogical port created using a Bluetooth transmitter that can bewirelessly coupled to a Bluetooth loudspeaker (e.g., in a Bluetoothheadset).

The mobile device 200 can further include a processor 210 communicatingwith a memory 220, such as electronic random access memory, or otherforms of transitory or non-transitory computer readable storage mediums,operating under control of or in conjunction with an operating system222. The operating system 222 can be any commercial, open-source, orproprietary operating system or platform. The processor 210 cancommunicate with a database 240, such as a database stored on a localhard drive. While illustrated as a local database in the mobile device200, the database 240 can be separate from the mobile device 200.

The processor 210 can further communicate with a wireless communicationmodule 215 to implement one or more of the ports 202, 204, 206, 208,209, such as a wired or wireless data connection. More particularly, thecommunication module 215 can include a GPS receiver to process GPSsignals received from the GPS network 245 when configured as the GPSinput port 206. The communication module 215 can also communicate with awide area network 250, such as a cellular network including one or morecell sites or base stations to implement cellular input port 208 andcellular output port 209. The cellular network 250 can communicativelyconnect the mobile device 200 to additional devices. The communicationmodule 215 can include radio transceivers that communicate with a localarea network 255 or other networks. The communication module 215 canalso include a Bluetooth® WPAN transceiver 217 that can connect toelements in a wireless personal area network (e.g., a Bluetooth headset)as previously described when configured as microphone port 202 and/orspeaker port 204.

The processor 210 can also communicate with a navigation application 230that can be configured to provide turn-by-turn directions to a user.Further, the processor 210 can communicate with an audio application 225that can be configured to utilize the components of the mobile device200, such as the microphone port 202 and/or the speaker port 204. Forexample, the audio application 225 can be a phone application or otherapplications or modules. It should be appreciated that otherapplications and functionalities are envisioned. For example, the mobiledevice 200 can include an application configured to examine a listing ofrules or priorities to resolve priorities or audio conflicts, and acalendar application configured to maintain a listing of appointmentsand associated contacts for the appointments.

While FIG. 2 illustrates the mobile device 200 as a standalone systemhaving a combination of hardware and software, the components of themobile device 200 can also be implemented as a software application orprogram capable of being executed by a conventional computer platform.Likewise, the components of the mobile device 200 can also beimplemented as a software module or program module capable of beingincorporated in other software applications and programs. In eithercase, the components of the mobile device 200 can be implemented in anytype of conventional proprietary or open-source computer language.

Referring to FIG. 3, depicted is an exemplary data record 300 detailinga listing of priorities. It should be appreciated that the data record300 is merely exemplary and can include any type of data capable ofbeing stored, accessed, updated, and/or deleted. According to thesystems and methods, a user of a mobile device can set and/or update thedata of the data record 300 according to various preferences.

As shown in FIG. 3, the data record 300 can have a priority A contactlist 305 and a priority B contact list 320. For example, the priority Acontact list 305 can include a listing of individuals or entities 310who have a “high” priority, and the priority B contact list 320 caninclude a listing of individuals or entities 325 who have a “low”priority. A mobile device, such as the mobile device 110, can examinethe data record 300 and the associated lists 305, 320 to determinepriorities and resolve conflicts associated with audio and navigationapplications, as discussed herein. For example, upon a phone applicationreceiving an incoming call, the phone application or other component canexamine the data record 300 to determine if the incoming call is from acontact on either of the associated lists 305, 320. If the contact is onthe priority A contact list 305, then the phone application candesignate that the incoming call has a higher priority, and if thecontact is on the priority B contact list 320, then the phoneapplication can designate that the incoming call has a lower priority.

In some cases, either the priority A contact list 305 or the priority Bcontact list 320 can have one or more dynamic entries. For example, themobile device can interface the data record 300 with a calendarapplication of the mobile device and insert any contacts 315 associatedwith an appointment on the priority A contact list 305. Moreparticularly, if at 2:45 PM a user of the mobile device is traveling toan appointment scheduled for 3:00 PM, then the mobile device can placeany contacts associated with the 3:00 PM appointment on the priority Acontact list 305. That way, if one of the appointment contacts calls theuser, then that contact can receive a higher priority. Further, theappointment contacts can be removed from the priority A contact list 305when the appointment time has passed. It should be appreciated thatother dynamic contact use cases are envisioned.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method 400 for a mobile device (such as themobile device 110 shown in FIG. 1) to manage audio conflicts orpriorities associated with audio and/or navigation applications of themobile device. The method 400 begins with the mobile device optionallyreceiving 405, from a user, a set of rules/priorities for handling audioconflicts on the mobile device. For example, the user can specify whichcontacts have a high priority and which contacts have a low prioritywhen an incoming call is received. In some cases, the mobile device caninterface with an associated calendar application to dynamically addcontacts to the set of rules/priorities. The mobile device initiates 410a navigation application configured to audibly output turn-by-turndirections associated with a route. For example, the user can input adestination and the navigation application can calculate a route to thedestination and can output, via the speaker of the mobile device orother output components, the navigation warnings and turn-by-turndirections associated with the route.

The mobile device detects 415 an initiation of an audio application onthe mobile device. For example, a phone application can detect anincoming call or a messaging application can detect an incomingtext-to-voice message. For further example, a user can initiate a phoneapplication to place an outgoing call. The mobile device optionallyoutputs 420, via a speaker, a navigation status associated with theroute. In some cases, the navigation application can determine asubsequent direction of the turn-by-turn directions and output anindication of the subsequent direction (e.g., “turn right at the nextexit in 15 miles”).

The mobile device optionally configures 425 the navigation applicationor the audio application to mute any navigation warnings associated withthe route. For example, the navigation warnings can be any indicationsof upcoming directions (e.g., “in 2 blocks, turn right”), as opposed toa navigation instruction (e.g., “turn right here”). In some cases, theaudio application can control the speaker of the mobile device andprevent the navigation application from outputting the navigationwarnings via the speaker. In other cases, the navigation application candetermine that the audio application is initiated and can neithergenerate nor output the navigation warnings.

After the configuration (“A”), and referring to FIG. 5, the mobiledevice optionally estimates 505 an amount of time before an upcomingdirection of the route is to be audibly output via the speaker. Inparticular, the amount of time before the upcoming direction is to beaudibly output can be estimated from a distance remaining and a currentrate of velocity of the vehicle. The mobile device further optionallyqueries 510 the user with an option to continue the initiation of theaudio application, wherein the option indicates the estimated amount oftime. For example, if the user is placing an outgoing call, then thequery can indicate that there is an upcoming direction in a certainamount of minutes and can require approval to place the outgoing call.Further, for example, if the user is receiving an incoming call, thenthe query can indicate that there is an upcoming direction in a certainamount of minutes and can require approval to receive the incoming call.

The mobile device optionally determines 515 if approval has beenreceived from the user. If approval is received (“YES”, “B”), thenprocessing returns to “B” of FIG. 4. In contrast, if approval is notreceived (“NO”), then the mobile device optionally terminates 520 theaudio application. In some cases, if an incoming call is received, thenthe mobile device can decline the call, route the incoming call to avoice mailbox module, or perform other functions as part of termination520.

Referring back to FIG. 4, the mobile device determines 430, if the audioapplication is a phone application or the like, if the initiation of theaudio application is an incoming call or an outgoing call. If the callis an incoming call (“INCOMING”), then the mobile device determines 435if the call is from a high-priority contact. For example, the mobiledevice can examine the set of rules/priorities to determine if the callis from an individual or entity with a higher priority. If the call isnot from a high-priority contact (“NO”), then the mobile device delays440 an alert associated with the audio application until a sufficientbreak in the turn-by-turn directions. In some cases, the audioapplication and/or the navigation application can estimate orapproximate how much time and/or distance there is before the nextdirection is to be audibly output. If the time and/or distance does notmeet or exceed a threshold (e.g., 5 minutes, 2 miles, etc.), then theaudio application and/or the navigation application can delay the alertuntil the time and/or distance meets or exceeds the threshold, uponwhich the audio application can provide an indication of the incomingcall. In some cases, if the time and/or distance does not meet or exceedthe threshold, then the audio application can route the incoming call toa voice mailbox module. In other cases, the audio application canindicate the time and/or distance to the user and allow the user theoption to accept or decline the incoming call. If the time and/ordistance does meet or exceed the threshold, then the audio applicationcan provide an indication of the incoming call to the user (e.g., aringtone), and processing can proceed to 445.

If the call is an outgoing call (“OUTGOING”), the call is from ahigh-priority individual (“YES”), or a sufficient break in theturn-by-turn directions has been reached, then the audio application canconnect the call between the parties. In some cases, if the call is anincoming call, then the user can select whether to answer or decline thecall. In other cases, if the call is an outgoing call, then the mobiledevice can indicate an approximate amount of time or distance before asubsequent direction will need to be outputted by the navigationapplication, and can prompt the user to select whether to cancel orplace the outgoing call. After the call is connected, the mobile devicemutes 445 a microphone of the mobile device as the turn-by-turndirections are audibly output. More particularly, the microphone of themobile device will not receive and/or process any audio input while thenavigation application outputs the turn-by-turn directions via thespeaker. The method 400 ends 450 when either the audio application orthe navigation application exits or terminates. For example, the method400 can end when the call terminates, when the destination is reached,or upon other triggers.

Thus, it should be clear from the preceding disclosure that a method andapparatus in a communication system manages audio conflicts andpriorities between an audio application and a navigation applicationexecuting on a communication device. The method and apparatusadvantageously allows the communication device to concurrently executethe audio application and the navigation application with minimal audioconflict. The method and apparatus further advantageously preventspotentially sensitive information from being transmitted to additionalparties.

This disclosure is intended to explain how to fashion and use variousembodiments in accordance with the invention rather than to limit thetrue, intended, and fair scope and spirit thereof. The foregoingdescription is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the inventionto the precise forms disclosed. Modifications or variations are possiblein light of the above teachings. The embodiment(s) was chosen anddescribed to provide the best illustration of the principles of theinvention and its practical application, and to enable one of ordinaryskill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments andwith various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scopeof the invention as determined by the appended claims, as may be amendedduring the pendency of this application for patent, and all equivalentsthereof, when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which theyare fairly, legally, and equitably entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method in an electronic communication device,the electronic communication device comprising an audio applicationconfigured to utilize a first audio component and a second audiocomponent configured to receive audio, the method comprising:determining, by a processor, that a navigation application is active,wherein the navigation application is configured to audibly outputdirections via the first audio component; identifying, by a processor,an audio output associated with the navigation application; andpreventing, by a processor, the second audio component from receivingany audio input while the audio output is output via the first audiocomponent.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the audio output isan upcoming warning associated with the directions, the method furthercomprises: preventing the upcoming warning from being audibly output viathe first audio component.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the audiooutput is an upcoming direction of the directions.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: detecting an incoming audio stream elementassociated with the audio application; examining a listing of at leastone rule to determine that the incoming audio stream element has a highpriority; and providing, to a user of the electronic communicationdevice, an indication of the incoming audio stream element.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: detecting an incoming audiostream element associated with the audio application; examining alisting of at least one rule to determine that the incoming audio streamelement has a low priority; estimating an amount of time before anupcoming direction of the directions is to be audibly output via thefirst audio component; and managing the incoming audio stream elementbased on the amount of time.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein managingthe incoming audio stream element comprises: determining that the amountof time does not meet or exceed a threshold; and delaying an alertassociated with the incoming audio stream element.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the alert is delayed until the amount of time meets orexceeds the threshold.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein managing theincoming audio stream element comprises: determining that the amount oftime does not meet or exceed a threshold; and routing the incoming audiostream element to a voice mailbox module.
 9. The method of claim 5,wherein managing the incoming audio stream element comprises:determining that the amount of time meets or exceeds a threshold; andproviding, to a user of the electronic communication device, anindication of the incoming audio stream element.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the first audio component is a speaker and the second audiocomponent is a microphone.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting an initialization of an audio stream associatedwith the audio application; estimating an amount of time before anupcoming direction of the directions is to be audibly output via thefirst audio component; querying a user of the electronic communicationdevice with an option to continue the initialization, wherein the optioncomprises an indication of the amount of time; and receiving, from theuser, a response to the querying.
 12. An electronic communication devicecomprising: audio input hardware configured to receive audio; audiooutput hardware configured to output audio; a navigation applicationconfigured to provide directions via the audio output hardware; an audioapplication configured to utilize the audio input hardware and the audiooutput hardware; and a processor configured to execute the navigationapplication and the audio application, for: detecting an initializationof the audio application on the electronic communication device whilethe navigation application is executing, determining that the navigationapplication will utilize the audio output hardware to provide thedirections while the audio application is initialized, identifying anupcoming direction of the directions, and preventing the audio inputhardware from receiving any audio input while the navigation applicationoutputs the upcoming direction via the audio output hardware.
 13. Theelectronic communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor isfurther configured to execute the navigation application and the audioapplication, for: identifying a warning associated with the upcomingdirection, and preventing the navigation application from outputting thewarning via the audio output hardware.
 14. The electronic communicationdevice of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute the navigation application and the audio application, for:detecting an incoming audio stream element associated with theinitialization of the audio application, examining a listing of at leastone rule to determine that the incoming audio stream element has a highpriority, and providing, to a user of the electronic communicationdevice via the audio application, an indication of the incoming audiostream element.
 15. The electronic communication device of claim 12,wherein the processor is further configured to execute the navigationapplication and the audio application, for: detecting an incoming audiostream element associated with the initialization of the audioapplication, examining a listing of at least one rule to determine thatthe incoming audio stream element has a low priority, estimating anamount of time before an upcoming direction of the directions is to beaudibly output via the audio output hardware, and managing, by the audioapplication, the incoming audio stream element based on the amount oftime.